Jar-sealing apparatus.



PATBNTED MAY 9, 1905.

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vv,V H. .HoN1ss. JAR SBALING APPARATUS.

APPLIQATION FILED Hum. 1902.

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W/ness es:

N0. 789,693. Patented May 9, 1905.

i. ATBNT trice.

Unirse STATES WILLIAM H. HONISS, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- FOURTH TO HIMSELF, ONE-HALF TO BEECH-NUT PACKING COMPANY, OF CANAJOHARIE, NEIV YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK, AND ONE-FOURTH TO WILLIAM A. LORENZ, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

JAR-SEALING APPARATUS- SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent NO. I789,693, dated. May 9, 1905. Application filed February -3, 1902. Serial No. 92,330.

T @Uf Hill/0m "35 may @0N/037%: the receptacle and is supported upon yielding Be it known that I, WILLIAM I-I. HONISS, a supports, which partly or wholly sustain the citizen of the United States oi' America, and weight of the presser during the exhausting a resident of Hartford, in the county of Hartoperation, but which yields under the presford and State ot' Connecticut, have invented sure of the readmitted air, thereby enabling certain new and useful Improvements in J arthe presser to close the caps upon the jars. Sealing Apparatus, of which the following is The supports are adjustable and may be ada specification. justed so as to hold the presser1 clear of the This invention relates to improvements in jars, as herein shown, or they may be adjusted 55 1o apparatus for exhausting and hermetically so that the presser rests with more or less sealing jars, cans, and similar receptacles, and weight upon the jars. particularly relates to that class of apparatus In the embodiment of my invention herein in which the seal is made automatically by shown the presser is employed in connecreadmitting air -pressure after the desired tion with a jar-receptacle 8, which may have 60 vacuum is obtained. y a stitfening-framework 9 around its open side In the drawings, in which similar characters to reinforce the receptacle against the sudden refer to similar parts, Figure 1 is a plan View and severe pressure, due to the impact of the of the jar receptacle and presser. Fig. 2 is readmitted air-pressure. The receptacle 8, a side view, in vertical section, of an exhaustwhich may be or' a size to suit one or more 65 zo ing-receiver containing a receptacle with jars jars J, is herein shown in a receiver R, having therein and taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. an air-exhausting pipe O and an inlet I. One Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view showor more of these receptacles 8 may be placed ing a modification of the apparatus. in a receiver, either stacked upon one another The hermetic closures ot' vacuum-jars oi' or side by side, according to the proportions 7o the type herein shown usually consist of a of the receptacles and of the receiver. The gasket and a cap C, having a iiange which body or iniiexible portion of the presser 10 iits over the gasket and compresses it upon substantially closes the open side of the rethe jar to seal the closure after the exhaust- Ceptacle 8 and is yieldingly supported upon ing operation, after which the seal is mainpins l1 and springs 15, seated in the brackets 75 3o tained by atmospheric pressure. In order to 12. The pins are provided with nuts 14, which obtain the best degree of vacuum within the are kept from turning by means of the lower jar, the caps should be maintained loosely ends of the brackets or in any other suitable upon the gaskets during the exhausting opway. The pins are slotted or squared to reeration, and no weight should be brought to ceive a screw-driver or wrench, and by screw- 3 5 bear upon the cover at that time. ing the pins around the presser 10 may be The object of this invention is to provide a adjusted nearer to or farther from the caps, as simple and conveniently-handled apparatus may be desired, or the pins may be lowered which can be placed within an exhausting-reso that the presser lO may rest upon the caps v ceiver for automatically making the seal by with a portion or all of its weight. I prefer, 40 the readmission of air-pressure after a suithowever, to adjust the pins so that there will able vacuum has been obtained in the appabe suieient space between the presser and ratus and while excluding that pressure from the jar-covers to allow free displacement of the closure-joint. the caps during the exhausting operation in In my improved apparatus I employ a reorder to permit the air to escape from the in- 45 movable receptacle having a substantially interior of the jars.

iiexible presser which closes the open side of Various modiiications of the presser-sus- 25 and caps C in position.

4o sion of air to the receptacle 8.

50 seat in the wall of the receptacle.

taining device may obviously be made by those skilled in the art.

The presser may be made of any suitable material that will be substantially inflexible 5 and that will press the covers down squarely upon the jars when the air has been readmitted to effect the sealing of the jars. The receptacle is provided with an outlet 17, through which the airv in the jars and in the receptacle 1.0 finds its exit during the exhausting operation.

That opening is covered by a check valve consisting of a flexible flap 16. During the exhausting operation this check-valve is lifted, and upon the readmission of air the valve prevents the return of the air to the receptacle through the outlet 17.

In Fig. 3 I have shown a modification of the presser 10, which is here provided with a flexible packing 18, making a close joint between 2O the presser 10 and the side walls of the recep- 3o closed. The inlet I is closed, and air is exhausted through the pipe O from the receiver Rand from the interior of the receptacle 8 and jars J through the opening 17, the air passing freely out between the caps and their gaskets, since'little or no weight is placed upon the caps. When the desired vacuum has been obtained, air-pressure is readmitted through the inlet-valve I and operates to hold the valve 16 closed, preventing the readmis- The vacuum within the receptacle and within the jars being thus temporarily maintained, the readmitted air-pressure is exerted to its full extent upon the entire surface of the presser,

thus forcing it downwardly, and thereby forcing the caps C to their sealing positions upon the jars. The substantially inflexible character of the presser preserves it from being dished or buckled between the caps by the air- 5o pressure, and the caps are thus leveled and forced squarely down upon the jars. After the caps are thus sealed the door of the receiver may now be opened and the jar-receptacle removed. Air is readmitted to the in- 5 5 terior of the receptacle either before or after it is removed from the receiver by opening the flap-valve 16 1n any convenient manneras, for example, by the insertion of a thinedged instrument between the valve and its The admission of air into the interior of the receptacle counterbalances the atmospheric pressure on the upper side-of the presser, which is then lifted clear of the jars by the action of the springs 15 and may be removed, so as to permit the removal of the jars and the insertion of a new lot of' jars.

The valve device may be of any other wellknown form--such, for example, as is shown in United States Patent No. 711,432, in which a supplemental lever is employed for the more convenient lifting of the valve. The receiver R may also be of any well-known form-such, for example, as is shown in my United States Patent No. 711,211. The door of the receiver is preferably hinged, so as to permit the ready opening and closing of the apparatus between the successive operations.

I claim as my invention- 1. In combination with an air-exhausting apparatus, a removable open-sided receptacle for a plurality of jars, a jar-presser substantially closing the open side of the receptacle, and yielding means for supporting the jarpresser in operative relation to the jars.

2. In-.combination with an air-exhausting apparatus, a removable open-sided receptacle for a plurality of jars, a substantially inflexible jar-presser substantially closing the open side of the receptacle, yielding supports for the jar-presser, and stops for limiting the upward movement of the supports.

3. In combination with an air-exhausting apparatus, a removable open-sided receptacle, a substantially inflexible jar-presser substantially closing the open side of the receptacle, yielding supports for holding the jar-presser, stops for limiting the upward movement of the supports, and means for adjusting the position of the yielding supports with relation to the jars. j

f1. In a jar-sealing apparatus the combination of a removable open-sided receptacle for a plurality of jars, a substantially inflexible jar-presser, substantially closing the open side of the receptacle, yielding means for supporting the jar-presser adjacent to and independently of the jars, means for exhausting air from both sides of the presser, and means for readmitting air-pressure first to the outer side of the presser and then to the interior ofthe receptacle.

5. In a jar-sealing apparatus, the combination of an open-sided jar-receptacle, a substantially infiexible jar-presser, provided with a packing for fitting the walls of the receptacle, and substantially closing the open side thereof, a return check-valve, yielding means for supporting the jar-presser adjacent to and independently ofthe jars, means for exhausting air from both sides of the presser, and means for readmitting air-pressure to the outer side of the presser.

Signed at Hartford, Connecticut, this 1st day of February, 1902.

WM. H. HONISS.

Witnesses:

E. H. LORENZ, JOSEPH MERRITT.

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